'Marvel's Spider-Man' one of the best superhero video games of all time

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We’ve spun thousands of webs. Clobbered hundreds of thugs. Collected dozens of costumes. And still have one big, stupid grin on our faces.

Marvel’s Spider-Man, available Friday exclusively for Sony’s PlayStation 4, isn’t just the best Spider-Man video game ever – it’s one of the best superhero games of all time.

After weeks of criss-crossing a sprawling virtual Manhattan to battle super-villains, investigate crimes, and even take the odd selfie with the citizens of New York City, here are the (un-sinister) six things we love most about Marvel’s Spider-Man.

THE WEB-SWINGING

It’s hard to feel heroic if you’re constantly faceplanting into walls while trying to swing between skyscrapers. But developer Insomniac Games absolutely nailed Spidey’s movement, making it feel astonishingly fluid. It’s easy to control right from the outset, but after getting a bit of practice and unlocking some additional traversal moves, guiding the wall-crawler around Manhattan looks and feels like something straight out of a movie.

THE COMBAT

While the fisticuffs in Marvel’s Spider-Man feel a little similar to the excellent melee mechanics in Rocksteady Studios’ Batman: Arkham games, there’s tons of Spidey flavour. Using a variety of web-based attacks and cool gadgets, you can stick enemies to walls, tie them up and swing them around, yank their guns away and much, much more. Like the game’s web-swinging traversal mechanics, combat feels natural right from the start, but gets even more varied and empowering as the game goes on.

THE COSTUMES

There are a whopping 26 different Spider-Man suits in the game—each with a unique power—that are unlocked by cashing in tokens doled out for completing different types of missions. The default is a high-tech outfit featuring a large white spider design, but you can play through the entire game in any unlocked costume, and switch ’em up at will. Outfits range from the familiar (both of the Tony Stark-designed suits from the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies) to the wildly obscure (an all-white Spidey-meets-Ghost-Rider suit with a flaming skull.) The costumes are incredibly detailed, especially when you see them up close in the game’s many story-driven cinematic sequences.

THE LORE

Insomniac Games was given unprecedented freedom to draw from decades of Marvel comics material, and Spider-Man fans’ heads may explode when they see the game’s familiar characters, locations, Easter eggs and cameos. We love that Miles Morales plays a significant role in the story, and that Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson’s relationship is in an interesting state of flux. The game’s virtual Manhattan is peppered with Marvel landmarks, including Avengers Tower, Dr. Strange’s Sanctum Santorum, and pretty much any place the Defenders hang out.

THE VISUALS

Despite some eye-rolling online whinging about puddles missing from the final version of the game (seriously, Internet?), the visuals in Marvel’s Spider-Man are incredible—particularly if you happen to be rocking a PS4 Pro with a 4K HDR TV. Perching on top of the Empire State building and watching the late-day sun cascade over Manhattan, while traffic streams far below and ships ply the Hudson River… it’s breathtaking.

THE VILLAINS

Talk about a rogue’s gallery. While B-lister Mister Negative plays a central role in the story, there’s a who’s who of baddies going toe-to-toe with the wall-crawler. From classic foes like Electro, Scorpion and Rhino to relative oddities like Shocker and Screwball, it’s a delicious, endless parade of familiar faces. (Don’t hold your breath for the Green Goblin, though—Harry Osborn is in Europe, and communicates with Peter via voicemails. But there’s always the sequel!)

Amazing? Spectacular? Ultimate? When you’re a lifelong Spider-Man fan, there might not be a strong enough adjective to describe working on the biggest Spidey video game of all time.

“It’s just so surreal to have this kind of experience,” said Insomniac Games creative director Bryan Intihar, whose studio is bringing Spider-Man to the PlayStation 4 this week in a visually stunning, action-packed game.

“I’ve had a pretty great run [in game development], but I’ve never been able to work on something that’s so near and dear,” Intihar said in an interview. “This is what you dream about when you’re a little kid.”

Judging by the pre-release hype for the game, hitting stores Friday, a whole lot of fans are dreaming about taking Spider-Man for a swing.

Marvel’s Spider-Man, as the game is officially titled, offers a slightly different take on Peter Parker and his web-slinging alter-ego, one that’s inspired by the comics but not an adaptation of any specific storyline. It’s also not connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, in which the character is played by Tom Holland, or the earlier movies that starred Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.

In the game, Peter Parker has already spent seven years as Spidey, and is comfortable and confident with his powers. He works as a research assistant for… well, you’ll see… and sidelines as a wall-crawling superhero in a sprawling, highly detailed Manhattan.

Marvel gave Insomniac Games – makers of the Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet & Clank and Resistance franchises – an incredible amount of freedom to spin their own webby tale, cherry-picking content from decades of Spider-Man lore.

“They know we love the character, we’re respecting the character, and as long as we’re doing that they’ve been open to a lot of different things,” Intihar said of Marvel. “They were thinking beyond just the Marvel brand. They were thinking of great stories, great games.”

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